Nails and Teeth
by The Lady Avaritia
Summary: Itachi is tortured. Kisame watches. Sticks and stones may break one's bones, but words can never hurt them. In the end, even geniuses crack. WARNING: Yaoi and graphic rape and torture.
1. Prologue: Hold

**Title: **Nails and Teeth

**Rating: **M  
><strong>Spoilers: <strong>general

**Characters**: Kisame; Itachi

**Summary: ** Itachi is tortured. Kisame watches. Sticks and stones may break one's bones, but words ca never hurt them. In the end, even geniuses crack.

**Disclaimer: **disclaimed

**Author Note:** This is my first multi chapter fic for Naruto, and I've put a lot of plotting in it. Please review to tell me what you think.

**Author: **_Lady Avaritia_

Prologue: 

Hold

A fifteen year old Itachi is hunched over the toilet seat in the hotel inn, coughing violently. His pale sweaty hands clutch weakly at the white toilet. His back is arched gracefully, and his dark hair, tangles out of its ponytail, falls around his face. Itachi is shivering all over, and red blood stains his lips. He makes vain attempts to catch his breath.

Kisame is leaning against the opposite wall in the bathroom. A particularly violent fit almost chokes the boy, especially after he tries to push it down. At this point the fish man decides that his partner's life is worth more than his pride, and crosses the room in one stride. His knees hit the terracotta floor next to Itachi. Kisame snakes an arm around the boy's thin shoulder so steady him, and holds his hair back with the other, as the raven hacks out more blood.

His lithe body is pressed against Kisame's chest. Kisame hopes his partner never realizes just how much their proximity excites him. Where Itachi's sweaty skin is pressed against him, Kisame feels little jolts of electricity, and all he wants is to whip the boy around, so they are face to face, and claim his lips in a kiss.

He settles for just pressing his lips against the crook of Itachi's neck. He tastes sour sweat, and beyond that, a taste that is undeniably only Itachi's.

The raven is too preoccupied with his effort not to cough a lung out to notice that.

The shark-man knows that even _thinking _about the teenager that way is wrong. The ten year gap between them aside, he knows for a fact that Itachi is only interested in women, and has put very clear restrictions to their relationship. Kisame also knows that he is one of the few people Itachi trusts. To attempt to twist that trust into something more…no. Kisame still had some moral restrictions left.

So he settled just for holding his partner tightly through his pain.


	2. Chapter 1:Dust

**Title: **Chapter 1: Dust

**Rating: **M

**Disclaimer: **disclaimed

**Author Note:** Well, the action began. Can you guess what will happen in the next chapter? Thank you to those who reviewed. Do it again, please? From now on updates will be slow, because it's exam week.

Oh, and by the way, Zankokuna Chisei literally means Cruel Intellect. I thought I'd try a Kishimoto name joke. Did it work?

**Author: **_Lady Avaritia_

Kisame and Itachi had been on the run for about two hours now with hunter-nin from the Mountain Village hot on their trail. After the rough fight they'd had the previous day, Itachi was in no condition to fight. However, it seemed that running was taking its toll on him too.

'Keep…moving,' he hissed, and forced himself forwards. Kisame only nodded and moved swiftly after Itachi. Beads of sweat were rolling down the younger man's forehead, and blood had stained his lips crimson. He wouldn't be able to go on for much longer.

They could hear the hunter-nin advancing rapidly behind them, could practically feel the hot breath of their followers on their necks. The air had grown hot and heavy, pressing on their already strained bodies. Kisame knew that they needed to keep moving, but one look at Itachi confirmed his worst suspicion. The Uchiha would not hold out. He had taken a serious katana blow in the left shoulder the previous day, and the use of the Sharingan had practically sucked him off of his last energy. And dusty in the air might as well have been charcoal smoke to the raven's weak lungs. The boy jumped on a tree branch. He hit if in the wrong angle and heard the sickening crack before feeling the pain in his ankle. Now he knew for a fact that he wouldn't be able to go anywhere.

'We have to,' he said in an almost whisper, 'we have to stop and fight them off.'

Kisame nodded, and just then the first group of Mountain shinobi came through the trees.

Itachi was good with kunai. Insanely good. One swift movement of his uninjured arm, a flash of crimson, and the ninjas fell down like chopped off grass. Itachi threw kunai like some people breathed. But it wasn't enough. He caught movement on his left, whipped around, ready to strike, but wasn't fast enough. His attacker punched him in the stomach with all he got. The impact of the hit sent the Uchiha flying in a tree. He slowly slid down to the ground, and didn't move again.

Meanwhile, Kisame was fighting off about ten ninjas. As good as he was, ten very good ANBU level jounin with special training, did, in fact, stand a chance against him. And they knew it. The moment he heard Itachi's groan of pain and the sound of flesh hitting wood, the shark-man lost his concentration for a moment and turned to see his partner's immobile form.

That was enough for the enemy ninjas. He felt, in some numbed out part of his consciousness the four kunai stabs in his torso, and he heard more than anything his knees hitting the ground.

There was no sound around him, save for the buzzing static in his head, and all he could take notice of was Itachi's crumpled form, the paleness of his skin, the brightness of his blood, the darkness of his hair, the unnatural angle of his arm, the way he looked so frail. And most of all…the way he didn't seem t be moving at all.

'Itachi…' he whispered.

Then his vision was overtaken by a large man with brown hair and eyes, and a scarred face.

'I am Zankokuna Chisei, head of the Torture and Interrogation division of the ANBU in the Hidden Mountain Village. And you and your partner will come with me, and spill everything about your organization, or I swear, I will spill your guts.'

'Tch. I wouldn't say a thing, if my life depended on it,' Kisame spat venomously.

'We know that, Hoshigaki Kisame. You have a reputation for fiercely withholding information. But would you do if his life depended on it?' the man jabbed a finger at where Itachi was, still slumped against the tree. A couple of shinobi were binding his wrists and ankles with ropes and stripping him off his remaining weapons.

'We know about your stamina, we know about your high pain-tolerance. But we also know that your partner is much weaker. And he's just a boy. One way or another, we'll learn what we want to know. Either he'll crack… or you will, while watching him,' the last part was accompanied with a cruel smile. Kisame spat in the man's feet. Chisei's eyes narrowed dangerously. He kicked the shark-man in the head. Kisame's face hit the dust, and he felt it enter his mouth. He felt another kick on the side of his head. Everything went black.


	3. Chapter 2: Bones

**Title: **Chapter 2: Bones

**Rating: **M

**Disclaimer: **disclaimed

**Author Note:** Torture ahead, yay! And we'll get to the rape soon enough, don't worry XD. Remember: reviews=happiness=inspiration to write=new chapter=Itachi get a happy end sooner!

**Author: **_Lady Avaritia_

When Kisame opened his eyes, his vision was blurred, red spots danced in front of his eyes. He blinked several times, before finally it all cleared. He could feel the cold metal of chains that were binding his wrists, and holding his ankles. The side of his face was pressed against damp soil. That could only mean he was somewhere underground. He breathed the air, and it hurt his throat. It was cold, and cutting, and moist. It was stale, and the heavy stanch of mold was pressing against his nostrils. For Itachi in his condition, even breathing that air would be torture enough. Itachi!

Kisame struggled to sit up, so that his back was pressed against the sharp scraping stone of the wall. He barely stiffened a groan of pain, and glanced at his torso. He remembered that four of the enemy ninja had managed to stick their kunai in him almost simultaneously. There was now a not so deep cut over one rib, a shallow wound in his lower abdomen, and two parallel cuts down his chest. The wound on his abdomen was still weeping crimson blood. Kisame focused his attention back on his surroundings. The cell was fairly wide. There were no windows. The only light came from several torches adorning the nondescript stone walls. The unpleasant smell of gasoline could be felt faintly, as an underlying tone in the air. There was a metal table that reminded Kisame of the autopsy tables at the morgue, and Sasori's workshop. Except this one had shackles on each angle. There was a heavy wooden door with iron bars just opposite him, and iron shelves with instruments. And in the darkest corner of the room was Itachi. He was still unconscious, Kisame could tell. His small frame shook violently with shuddering breath he took. They'd stripped him off his shirt and Kisame could see the ugly bruises that had formed on the boy's skin, the vivid blue and purple an ugly contrast to his pale skin.

Kisame wanted nothing more than to take the raven in his arms and cover the broken skin with kisses.

The door opened with an ear-splitting screech, and Zankokuna Chisei stepped in. his pitiless eyes shone maliciously in the light of the torches.

'I'm giving you a chance at this, Hoshigaki Kisame,' he said coldly. 'You can speak now. All I need is the whereabouts of your hideout and names of other members. Then I won't have to hurt either of you…but rather send you to your respective governments, as, missing-nin. '

Kisame shook his head. If he as much as opened his mouth about the Akatsuki, the Leader would probably find them and twist their necks around in a complete circle. And he knew what would happen to both him and Itachi if they were returned to their governments. There was only one punishment for treason. Death.

'As tempting, as your offer is, I'd have to refuse,' he said through gritted teeth.

Chisei laughed.

'I knew you were going to say that.' He walked over to where Itachi lie, and kicked him forcefully in the ribs with his steel-enforced boot. Itachi's face twisted in pain and his eyes shot open.

'Here's the thing,' Chisei said. His voice was quiet, controlled, but underneath Kisame could taste his anticipation. That man was a sadist of the finest kind. He appreciated pain, he savored it. Kisame had only met a few other people like that before. Haya Karasu, head of the Sand T&I and Ibiki Morino, her colleague from the Leaf for one, and Orochimaru. People like that never stopped until they'd made you tell them your grandmother's sister's daughter's maid of honor's maiden name.

'I know,' he continued, 'that I have no chance of breaking you through physical torture. Him, however,' he kicked Itachi in the ribs once more, 'I am not so sure about. He looks like he'll break easily.' Chisei smirked, and brought his foot down on Itachi's broken ankle heavily. The boy screamed. Chisei's smirk grew into a full blown grin. It was the ugliest smile Kisame had seen in his life. It reminded him of the snake-sannin Orochimaru, and not in a good way.

'I will get started on your young partner here. And you will watch every minute of it. Remember, both of you have the power to stop me at any given moment. It's the power of words.'

He grabbed Itachi by the hair and pulled him up and then dragged him over to the torture table. Zankokuna slammed the boy down and shackled him. Itachi looked so helpless like that. He'd never looked helpless before. And in that moment, in that moment Kisame hated Chisei more than anything for reducing the proud Uchiha to merely another torture subject.

Zankokuna got started on Itachi's hands. The raven's desperate screams echoed through the cell, bounced off of the walls and slammed with full force in Kisame's head. And yet, it was not enough to tone the sickening crack of the bones giving away under the torturer's skilled fingers. Itachi trashed on the table, and tears of pure physical agony ran down his face.

For that, Kisame promised himself. He'd chop off Chisei's arms. Slowly. Bit by tiny bit.


	4. Chapter 3: Hands

**Title: **Chapter 3: Hands

**Rating: **M

**Disclaimer: **disclaimed

**Author Note:** I'm sorry for the short chapters. At least I update often enough, right? I want to thank to all the lovely people that have reviewed so far, you guys are amazing. And remember, each review I get for this chapter, is a painkiller pill for Itachi!

**Author: **_Lady Avaritia_

Itachi's breathing was coming out in long suffered gasps. The cold metal of the table burned painfully his overheated skin. He'd managed to numb himself out and the pain came to him through a red fog. Everywhere hurt. His broken ankle, his crippled arms, his hoarse throat, his cracked ribs. Somewhere at the back of his head he knew Kisame was watching him helplessly. It was important in a way but he couldn't bring himself to think about it.

Kisame watched his partner. His perfect paper pale skin was marred with ink black bruises and crimson cuts. Itachi's eyes were closed, and he seemed to be focusing all his energy into breathing in and out. He hadn't had a coughing fit yet, but that was nothing to go by. Kisame knew now, after two years of partnership that the attacks could come at any given moment. He wanted so badly to break the chains and go to Itachi and wrap his small trembling frame in his arms and hold him thee forever. All he'd succeeded in by trying to break the shackles, however, was rubbing his wrists raw almost to the bone.

'Itachi,' he whispered softly.

'Y-yes…' the raven rasped out painfully.

'We'll get out of here, I promise,' Itachi's face twisted into a harsh bitter smile. His charcoal eyes filled jest for a moment with warmth before the light flickered and disappeared.

'You should know by now…' his voice had a harsh edge to it that had nothing to do with raspiness, 'how little promises mean in our world…' he paused to take a wheezing breath, 'especially the ones you can't keep…'

Then he closed his eyes again, and attempted to relax his strained muscles. Kisame looked at him and felt sad. Itachi always made him feel that. Sadness and longing. He longed to take Itachi and piece him back together however long it may take. The Uchiha was just a boy in age and body, but in his mind, he was harsher than most old ninja Kisame had met. He wondered, sometimes, if his partner was sane at all. After all the things he'd done, he was practically a killing machine with no soul. And while some, like Orochimaru had made their snapping painfully obvious, Kisame wondered if Itachi sill had a human, salvageable part of him.

His musings were interrupted when Chisei flung the door open. After him trailed a short scrawny woman that reminded Kisame of a rag doll with her appearance.

'Alright, Setsuna, heal him,' the torturer commanded. The woman, who was apparently a medic-nin started pushing healing chakra in Itachi's broken body. Anyone else might have thought this was good. Kisame knew better.

'_Did you know… broken bones hurt most if they are healed and re broken immediately after… oh, well, I think I'm done here, you, whose name I can't be bothered to remember, go and call Kerine to tell her I'm ready to go to the shops with her!' _this is what Haya Karasu had said, and then left him in the dark dusty room of the Sand T&I headquarters wit his ribs re broken four times, while she went shopping with her friend. Karasu was still quite a name among those who made pain their job.

_Broken bones hurt most if they are healed and re broken immediately after_

Itachi's face had relaxed a little after his arms were healed.

'You can go now, Setsuna, but stay close,' Chisei instructed.

'Well, my little raven,' he said silkily, 'is there anything you'd like to tell me?'

Itachi just glared at him trough long eyelashes.

'Ahh, so be it,' the man sighed. Carefully, he freed Itachi's left hand of the shackle.

Kisame clenched his teeth and shut his eyes.

_-crack-_

The blue man didn't believe Itachi could make such sound come out of his throat. Yet his screams were inhuman, as Zankokuna proceeded to break every single bone in his left arm.

When he was finally done, Itachi had started crying a new, and his breath was heaving painfully.

'Setsuna,' Zankokuna yelled sharply. The medic came again, and when she was gone, the torturer repeated what he'd done. By the end of the day, Itachi had had the bones in his left hand broken and healed a total of six times. By the fifth, he could no longer make any sound come out of his throat. Instead, whenever he opened his mouth in a silent cry of pain, blood stained his lips. He'd probably torn something while screaming.

Chisei left him on the table, his arm unhealed form the last time.

'Have you anything to say to me, Hoshigaki Kisame?' he asked quietly.

'Itachi…,' the shark-man said brokenly, and looked at his partner. The boy's eyes shot open at the sound of his name. his gaze was clouded with pain. There was something akin to panic in his eyes. He shook his head violently, which caused him to twist his face in a grimace of pain.

'No,' Kisame whispered brokenly.


	5. Chapter 4: Skin

**Title: **Chapter 4: Skin

**Rating: **M

**Disclaimer: **disclaimed

**Author Note:** And can anyone guess what will happen to Itachi in the next chapter? I'm sorry this one is so short, but I couldn't bring myself to add anything. Gomenne!

**Author: **_Lady Avaritia_

Kisame couldn't sleep. He could hear Itachi's soft almost voiceless whimpers of pain that carried through the heavy night air.

The only way Kisame could guess the time, was by Chisei's arrivals. The man came every day.

It had been two weeks already. Itachi was reaching the dangerous edge of his limits, and Zankokuna was reaching the even more dangerous edge of his patience. Kisame hoped that the man would finally focus his attention on the blue-haired nin. The shark-man could take torture. Itachi couldn't. Kisame had made a desperate attempt to reach the Leader. He had no doubt that the rest of the Akatsuki were on the search for them already. he only wondered, if they would be found on time.

In the mean time, he'd been trying to gather his chakra. He knew, if he could muster enough to break free of his shackles, he'd manage afterwards somehow. If the growing hatred for Chisei within him was anything to go by, Kisame would soon be out for his blood. He needed be pushed just a little further. Every moan Itachi let out, every cut, every bruise on his delicate body added a little more to the dark pit deep in Kisame's sub consciousness. _His_ raven was hurting, and Kisame wanted to rip apart the one that had hurt him.

And when speaking, or thinking of the devil, Zankokuna opened the door with a kick, and slammed it behind him. He had whip in his arm. It was one of those whips that suited more the delicate hands of someone like Haya, and not Chisei's rough, callused ones. It was a craftsmanship, with a steel enforced ebony handle about an inch wide, and a leather rope, that was in fact consisted of three parts braided together. It ended with a small lead ball, as big as a thumbnail. Overall, it was a nice prop to have in handy if you happened to be in the habit of torturing people, or were a BDSM enthusiast.

Chisei grabbed Itachi by the hair and flung him on the ground. Itachi wailed, as his broken knees hit the ground.

'Speak, you bastard, speak or I swear, the boy here won't make it!' the enraged torturer commanded. Kisame knew he's been too quick to evaluate him with Ibiki Morino and Orochimaru. Neither would've lost their patience like that. Chisei was a sadist, all right, but he was not a refined one.

The whip cracked on the soft skin of Itachi's back. From where he sat, Kisame could see only the front of his body, marred and bloody, and the raven's lovely face, wet with tears, and swеat, and half covered by the unruly dark bangs. Chisei hadn't laid a hand on Itachi's perfect face. Perhaps he couldn't bear the thought of marring its beauty, or perhaps he preferred a larger area to work on. Like Itachi's chiseled back.

The whip came down over and over, and over. Itachi's face was ugly and twisted with raw agony. Soon enough blood started dripping down his sides, as the hits broke skin.

_-gasp-whip-wheeze-gasp-whip-wheeze-gasp-whip-wheeze-gasp-whip-wheeze-gasp-_

Kisame had counted one-hundred so far. With each following hit, Chisei added more agony to his death. Oh, yes, Zankokuna Chisei was a dead man, a walking corpse, a new experiment object for Orochimaru, new puppet material for Sasori, food for Zetsu, a free moving target for Kakuzu's target practice… Zankokuna Chisei was a dead man, and he was going to die in agony.

_-THUMP-_

Itachi's body fell forth. He'd finally lost consciousness and surrendered to blissful blackness, where there was no pain at least for a while. Kisame's sigh of relief froze in his throat when his eyes caught sight of Itachi's back. It was a bloody mess, Itachi's skin was covered with blood al over, his black hair was wet with it, the deep cuts of the whip had ruined the flesh, and would leave scars for sure.

'Are you sure you want to keep putting him through this?' Chisei tainted. 'He is in unimaginable pain and it's your fault. Just speak already, and it will end for him…'

'NO!' Kisame roared. '_I_ will end it for _you_, you bastard!'

Zankokuna laughed harshly. Anger flashed in his eyes. With a kick he sent Itachi's body flying in the opposite wall, where it lay slumped and unmoving.

'You have no idea what you just condemned him to. Rest well tonight, because after tomorrow, I cannot imagine you ever falling asleep again.'

The man smiled his ugly smile and left, slamming the door.


	6. Chapter 5: Body

**Title: **Chapter 5: Body

**Rating: **M

**Disclaimer: **disclaimed

**Author Note:** Sorry for the late update. I've had a hectic week.

WARNING: Rape ahead, back off, kiddos!

**Author: **_Lady Avaritia_

Just a little more…Just a little more… A little more strain and Kisame would finally be free. Would finally be able to rush to his partner's side.

In the damp darkness of the room he could see the raven. Even in all the pain he was in, Itachi still managed to look beautiful. He was like a lovely two-dimensional painting in black and white and bloody amaranthine. His chest rose and fell with each whimpering breath, and his lungs wheezed painfully as they got the oxygen in his abused body. If only he was a little stronger, Kisame thought, he'd break them out right that very moment.

He didn't want to admit that his heart was gripped with cold fear, and Chisei's last words rang vilely through his mind. All the pain Itachi had gone through… and now he would be subjected to God-knows what else!

The dreaded screech of the door echoed through the cell, bounced off the stone walls and pierced Kisame's mind. Chisei walked in, confident and with a twisted smirk on his face.

The smirk reminded Kisame so much of Orochimaru that he wondered if the snake-sannin was somehow related to Zankokuna.

The torturer walked to where Itachi lay, small and broken.

He cupped the boy's cheek and Itachi's onyx eyes shot open, wide with fear.

Kisame had never seen the Uchiha afraid before. Had never seen him so vulnerable. Then again, never before had his partner been subjected to the never ending, on-going assaults of a sadistic interrogator who was hell-bent on discovering what he could through any means.

Chisei's other arm roamed over the boy's shoulder.

'So, you want to play, Hoshigaki Kisame. You want to play with my patience? Very well, then. We'll play. But remember – there are no rules, other than the once I set. You can answer my questions now, or suffer the consequences and answer them later… and God, am I getting tired of repeating that phrase! It will be so much easier for the both of you if you cooperate…'

Kisame spat on the ground. For a brief moment Itachi's eyes filled with defiance before slowly returning to the dull, dead look that had rested within them ever since Chisei broke his arm for the first time.

It seemed to Kisame that Itachi was no longer there in the present, and his mind had floated somewhere far, far away from the ugliness of their current state.

'Like hell, I'll speak to you about the organization,' Kisame hissed viciously.

Chisei's eyes lit up with something dark and twisted and inhuman. Kisame had the feeling in his gut that this is exactly what the bastard had wanted to hear.

The torturer let his hand roam over Itachi's body, hi fingertips just barely tracing the ashen skin, and raising goosebumps on the way.

Itachi's eyes filled with fear, as the man got rid of his pants, and he was left naked and exposed to Chisei's mercy, or lack thereof.

Kisame's mind filled up with horror as he grasped Zankokuna's intentions.

The bastard grabbed Itachi by the hair, and forced him face down on the floor, his other hand still roaming over the boy's pale body. He leaned down to press a butterfly kiss on Itachi's neck, and lick the blood from a cut on his shoulder. He held his prey down with one hand while undoing his own pants with the other.

Itachi's eyes filled with tears.

Chisei leaned down once more and bit the flesh where Itachi's neck met his shoulder hard enough to draw blood.

'NO!' Kisame roared furiously.

The torturer's eyes met his for a second, and filled with malicious triumph. He forced himself inside Itachi. The boy screamed. Kisame writhed in his binding, focusing all his energy on his wrists. He had to get out, he had to get to Itachi and stop that monster from hurting him. It was wrong! So wrong… he was just a boy, just a boy…

Chisei pounded crudely in the small body underneath him. The angry roar of the shark-man almost toned done the pitiful whimpers of the raven.

'Please…no…don't this…no,' the boy managed to rasp out in between half-wails. Chisei was surprised the Uchiha could even make his throat work, but he took great delight in hearing the pained sounds.

For Itachi the world was crowded with pain. So much pain… there was nothing but bright crimson agony for him. His broken knees screamed every time Zankokuna pounded him into the ground, the slashed flesh of his chest got even more torn as it scraped against the soil. His abused back exploded and bright white flashes of suffering as Chisei tore racked down his nails.

Itachi's tears were sliding down his perfect face like glass frozen on his cheeks. Kisame was so disgusted by what was happening in front of him. He wanted to keel over and vomit his guts on the ground as he watched his precious little raven get violated right in front of his eyes.

He fought against the restraints, focused the last pathetic remnants of his chakra in his raw wrists.

Chisei came with a hiss of pleasure and shot his seed all over Itachi's creamy tights.

Kisame saw the world in black and white and red, as the steel gave under his assault.

He ripped free and lunged at Chisei.


	7. Chapter 6: Scull

**Title: **Chapter 6: Scull

**Rating: **M

**Disclaimer: **disclaimed

**Author Note: Here you go. A long chapter. Yay me! I'll be going on a short trip to Greece with some friends so this may be the last update for a week or two. Maybe I'll put something up tomorrow but that depends on the number of reviews I get. **

**Author: **_Lady Avaritia_

Chisei was just about to get up and give the broken Itachi a parting touch when he was knocked over by a furious Kisame. The blue man grabbed him forcefully by the hair and slammed his face on the ground. His victim wailed. The pitiful sound broke through the red fog of anger in Kisame's mind, but did nothing to lessen it. He repeated the move. And then he did it again. And again. And again… he was vaguely aware of the hot blood drops that had splattered on his face, but the image of Itachi small and helpless in the arms of that monster kept replaying in his mind. He needed to make it go away. He needed to wash it away with the bastard's blood. An eternity of agony would not suffice for what he'd put the raven though…

'Stop…' the voice was weak, just barely human, more a rasp than anything, but Kisame recognized it as Itachi's.

The angry fog ebbed away just slightly, just enough for him to see Itachi – black and white and crimson. The boy looked tired, oh, so tired.

'He's…' he had to stop as his face twisted in pain at the effort. 'He's dead.'

Kisame looked in front of himself. The fog wasn't there anymore and he saw clearly. Zankokuna Chisei's head was nothing but a puddle of blood and brain tissue and hair and pieces of the dead torturer's cracked scull.

The image filled Kisame with disgust. Zankokuna was as revolting in death as he'd been in life. However, his pathetic corpse was no longer of importance to Kisame. He had to work out a plan to get them both out and to the nearest hideout.

Usually Itachi was the one to come up with strategies, but it would be just cruel to ask him for anything at the moment.

The boy had closed his eyes and tears were slowly slipping down his beautiful face.

'Itachi,' Kisame whispered.

'It hurts…,' his partner rasped out, '…Everywhere.'

'It's gonna hurt just a little more… but please, you have to take it. Be strong for me. We'll get out of here now, just bear with it a little longer…please.'

He was aware that he was speaking nonsense but he felt the need to somehow comfort Itachi while his mind worked furiously on a plan.

'Hn,' the boy moved his head just barely in the weakest form of a nod.

Very, very carefully Kisame gathered his small body in his arms. Itachi weighed nothing. His head rested against Kisame's blue shoulder and he could feel Itachi's hair, wet with sweat and blood, brushing the skin there.

The door of the cell wasn't locked. With one push Kisame opened it and was out in the dimly lit hallway. He surveyed it carefully. It was empty. There was a staircase on the far left, and the shark man slowly made his way towards it. Just as he was about to take the first step, he heard someone coming, and quickly set his back flat against the wall.

'I will put you down now,' he told Itachi. He merely clenched his teeth, as Kisame set him on the ground carefully. Just then the person coming down reached the last step. Blindly Kisame reached and grabbed the person's neck, then pulled him and shoved him against the wall. It was Setsuna, the medic who had helped torture Itachi. For that she got slammed in the wall once again. She whimpered, terrified.

'Now,' Kisame whispered dangerously in her ear, 'you are going to heal his life threatening wounds, and then take us to wherever they keep our cloaks and weapons. If you try anything funny, I will snap that skinny neck of yours in half, and believe me, I will not regret doing it.'

She nodded mutely and he loosened his grip on her. Gingerly the woman crouched next to Itachi. Her hands glowed a soft green, as she closed painful sword slashes on his chest. Then gently she turned him around. He gave a low hiss of pain. The woman started healing his torn up back.

'That's all I can do,' she said quietly, her vice slightly cracking. The broken bones have started healing wrongly and they need to be re broken and set right, and I am not a good enough medic to set to work on his inner injuries.

'That would suffice,' Kisame said, anger creeping in his voice. 'Now take us to the weaponry, or wherever the hell my sword is. And remember – no tricks.'

He picked Itachi up once more, and held him like you would a glass figurine – just barely touching, afraid not to stain him, not to break him in that fragile state.

They met no one on their way. The place seemed oddly deserted.

'The rest of the T&I don't come here. It's strictly Chisei's working place,' Setsuna felt the urge to explain.

Gently, Kisame draped the Akatsuki cloak over Itachi's thin shoulders, and put on his own. Then he strapped the Samehada on his back. The familiar weight, like an old friend's hand on his shoulder, made him feel much calmer and more secure.

'Now,' he spoke to Setsuna again, 'if you're still interested in keeping your pathetic life, you'll take us out safely. I assume everyone here knows you?'

She nodded, trembling with fear.

'Good. Then you'll lead us out of the village with no problem.'

'Y-yes,' she stuttered.

As they moved through the building several shinobi saw Setsuna and greeted her, but none asked about Kisame and Itachi.

Outside the sun was coloring the heavy lead sky in a bright arterial red. They hurried, receiving some strange glances from the battered looking passers by. Everything about this village seemed worn out, haggard, overused and then thrown away. The people seemed gray and dull, and even the few ragged children looked dusty and old.

If Kisame was as poetic as Sasori, then he would've said that the village's image suited entirely the tragedy that had happened there. Kisame wasn't poetic. He only wanted to get his partner away from that wretched sinking place as soon as possible. The Mountain village was a border village between the Grass country and Amegakure. To reach the hideout would've taken Kisame less than a day in any other conditions. However, he was tired, and still wounded, and Itachi's body, as light as it was, was still somewhat of a slow –down.

As they reached the gate, Kisame noticed the two guards asleep on their position and looking very much like lifeless corpses. Briefly, Kisame wondered if Mountain had been attacked recently.

As they exited and continued walking, Kisame worked on calculating in his mind how long it would take them to reach Amegakure. Two days if he sped, and three at most. He stopped and turned sharply towards Setsuna.

'Come closer, he ordered. She obeyed. The shark man balanced Itachi with only one arm as he took out a kunai.

The woman's dull eyes widened.

'You… you promised you'd let me go, 'she whispered, frightened.

'And I am,' Kisame said coldly. The kunai slashed through her neck before she could scream and bright blood splattered the ground.

'I just let you go from this world.'

**SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION MOMENT: I updated a ney one-shot called 'Bang the Bass' and it has no reviews yet, so please read it and comment if you have time. It has Itachi in it!**


	8. Chapter 7: Wounds

**Title: **Chapter 7: Wounds

**Rating: **M

**Disclaimer: **disclaimed

**Author Note: I'm baaack! *ducks thrown tin cans and banana wrappers*. I have a good excuse, I swear! I was in my villa in the mountain, and there's no internet there, so I couldn't post. But I've posted now, see, see? Next chapter will be up today or tomorrow.**

**I originally planned to have a chapter about how they got there, but then I decided to just skip that. And I wanted to have Oro in it, but it kinda butchered the anime timeline, so Oro is only mentioned. And yes! SasoOro FTW! Well, I hope you like this. Review!**

**Author: **_Lady Avaritia_

_Inhale-wheeze-exhale-inhale-wheeze-exhale-inhale-wheeze-exhale-inhale-wheeze – _

The painful pattern of Itachi's forced breathing is broken when a violent cough racks his skinny frame.

His charcoal eyes shoot open, and roll in shock. He sits up on the pillows and attempts to get hold of his body. The wet hacking sound wakes Kisame. He scrambles from the armchair where he's curled towards the bed, and nearly falls when his knee hits the wooden post. Once he's on his knees on the twisted coves, he puts an arm gently on Itachi's bony shoulder to steady him, and starts rubbing circles on his back with the other.

'There, there. You need to calm, Itachi. Calm.'

Slowly, the Uchiha's breathing returns to its previous pattern, and he slumps weakly against the covers like a rag doll. Kisame hands his a partner the glass with medicinal tea. It's a disgusting green color like swamp water mixed with mashed crocodile intensities. It smells like what it looks too, and judging by the slight twist in Itachi's thin lips as he swallows, it doesn't taste better.

However, Sasori and Kakuzu's medical knowledge is not to be argued with. Kakuzu has been performing the medic duties for Akatsuki for years, and Sasori's main hobby is human experimentation so the redhead's bound to know _something_ about the human body.

They've been back in the base for a little over a week now. Kisame's injuries had healed just fine and with little fuss. Kakuzu only needed to stitch him in one place, and even that didn't hurt too much.

Itachi, however, was hurt far worse. Sasori had to re break most of his bones yet again in order to set them straight. At least he had the mercy to knock Itachi out with some drug before he started the procedure. Still, Kisame could hear the bone cracking echo in his ears for hours afterwards.

Itachi's recovery after his major wounds were treated went slowly. He would lose the use of his left arm almost completely, Sasori was sure, and his lungs wouldn't get any better.

For now, it was best to wait. Itachi was confided to his bed, and Kisame had decided to stay at his side, unless he was sent away by the Leader.

Itachi's body looked so ridiculously small in the four poster bed, huddled among the huge fluffy pillows and soft cotton covers. Compared with his skin, the sheets looked grey, and his hair was like a spill of ink on the pillow.

He slept almost all the time, and his face would often twist up in a pained expression. Sometimes he would speak, quiet almost inaudible utterances, born by nightmares, and a thin veil of glistening sweat would cover his sharpened face.

When he was awake, it was for short periods of time, and he spoke little, and with difficulty.

Kisame was always in the room. He slept on the armchair, and he observed his young partner, and sometimes he spoke to him quietly.

When he'd swallowed his tea, Itachi closed his eyes, a painful expression still clutching briefly onto his face.

'It still hurts,' he whispered softly.

'Go to sleep…you'll feel better when you wake up,' Kisame promised.

Liar, his mind told him and he ignored it.

Sasori walked in, looking as darkly depressed, and slightly infuriated as ever, balancing a tray of food, a new dose of medicine, and a bottle of some liquor or another.

'He set the tray on the desk in the far side of the room and turned an angry glance towards the Kiri-nin.

'You're in love with him,' he accused in a half-hiss half-whisper, quiet enough not to wake Itachi.

'I don't believe that's any of your business, Sasori-san,' Kisame said with an edge to his voice.

'You're in love with him,' the redhead repeated harshly. 'And it's going to hurt you, and you're going to suffer, and when it breaks all of your bones, don't come running to me for a sympathetic shoulder to cry on.'

'Just because of what happened with you and Orochimaru – '

The scorpion's eyes flashed dangerously.

'Don't you dare bring him into this. At least we had a relationship, until your raven here ruined it!'

'Well, if he hadn't attempted to steal Itachi's body, he'd still be here, and you'd still be doing it like bunnies at any given opportunity. Don't even think of blaming Itachi for what you know perfectly well is that snake's fault.'

A smile edged itself on Sasori's young face. Oddly it reminded Kisame of a painful unhealed bruise. A bitter laugh that sounded more like a moan dropped from his twisted lips.

'We really can't be objective about that, can we? We're like children…I guess that's what love does to a person…'

Kisame looked at the other man sadly.

'I love Itachi,' he confessed, voice laced with quiet sadness.

'Of course you do,' Sasori nodded, 'it's only to be expected. I've always had you for the masochistic type.'

'What?'

'He will never love you back.'

'I know.'

'Then why bother?'

'He's beautiful,' Kisame said in a broken whisper.

Sasori bruised himself again as he went to walk out the door.

'I know,' he said quietly.

**Author's Emo Corner: Some people have 100 reviews for only 4 chapters, I only have like, 35 for seven…what am I doing wrog, what? *starts growing mushrooms***

**SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION:**

**I have two brand new Oro/Tsu one-shots that need love. Love them, please? One is **_**Garbage Island**_** and the other is **_**She Belongs in Fairytales**_**.**


	9. Chapter 8: Words

**Title: **Chapter 8: Words

**Rating: **M

**Disclaimer: **disclaimed

**Author Note: Ehmmmm, one of the last chapters here. There won't be much action from now on, you see. We got over the rape and torture, and now we have some fluff and cutesy parts. Yay! And because I'm a depressive bitch, they're depressive too!**

**Author: **_Lady Avaritia_

The air was damp hot and heavy. Itachi was in a fretful sleep, and Kisame was twisting his back on the armchair.

The dark was still.

Madara edged closer to the bed, where his relative's skinny frame was practically invisible in a tangle of sheets and pillows.

The boy's skin was the color of paper ashes, and his parched dry lips were half open in a silent plea

'Stop,' he whispered. 'Please, don't do this, stop!'

Madara cringed involuntarily.

Say what they will about him, he was a man that cared about family. Well revenge and family, but the two went hand in hand didn't they?

He'd developed a soft spot for the prodigy in the bed. After all, the raven had helped him finally take his revenge on the Uchiha, and was a useful tool in the Akatsuki. And after all, Madara had trained Itachi himself, had told him the secret of the Mangekyo.

And now…

'Please stop,' the weasel whimpered, and a tear tore through his check in a hot searing line.

Madara, for all his flaws and faults, could not stand to see someone brought to this state, and most certainly not an Uchiha.

'Itachi,' he called softly. 'Itachi.'

When the boy opened his eyes, they were wide, unfocused, but the look changed once they met Madara's spinning Sharingan.

'Madara-sama,' he rasped out respectfully, and attempted weakly to rise from the bed.

Madara poked him on the forehead.

'I'm sorry, Itachi. Not this time,' he said and brushed a few strands of dark hair from the boy's brow.

'I want to talk to you about what happened in the Mountain village.'

Itachi shook his head very slowly.

'I was tortured for information. There's no more to say,' he whispered. His voice had grown cold and distant, and he had retired to that white static place inside him where he could feel nothing. As long as he denied it, then it didn't happen. It didn't. It didn't.

'That's what Kisame said,' the older man sighed softly.

'There is no more to say,' Itachi repeated firmly, or as firm as a whisper can sound. His throat still hadn't fully recovered.

'If you feel like you want to talk… well, you don't know where to find me, but I'll find you.'

Madara disappeared in the shadows as swiftly as he'd appeared.

-x-

Kisame's eyes shot open.

'Itachi-san,' he said startled and straightened out of the armchair. His spine let out a disgusting crack.

'You didn't tell them?' Itachi whispered. It was only half a question.

The shark-nin didn't need to ask what his partner was referring to.

'No,' he said quietly. 'I figured you wouldn't want anyone to know.'

Itachi attempted a smile, but it looked more like grimace of pain than anything.

'Hn.'

'Do you want some water?' the Kiri-nin was already moving towards the night stand.

Itachi found the manners his mother had drilled in him all those years ago.

'Thank you,' he breathed out.

Kisame looked at him surprised as if he hadn't expected it. Maybe he hadn't.

The blue man shook his head and handed the boy a glass of water.

'You should go back to sleep,' he said somewhat awkwardly. 'You need to rest in order to heal faster.'

It was Itachi's turn to shake his head, and his bangs covered most of his face. The long white fingers of his right arm trembled slightly as he took the water from Kisame. it seemed as if even that small action was too much an effort.

'All I do is sleep. Sasori has filled me with so much drugs, it will be a miracle if they find blood in my chemical stream.'

Kisame chuckled despite himself. Something in Itachi eased, and the swordsman realized that the half-joke had been deliberate. Itachi rarely did things for no reason.

Kisame stood awkwardly beside Itachi.

'Please… sit down. I – it's making me uncomfortable to have you towering over me,' Itachi took a shaky breath and sipped the water. His lips twisted a little.

Kisame sat on the very edge of the bed, a respectful distance away from the Uchiha.

'What – what happened… Anyone else would have broken, in the end,' Kisame said quietly.

Itachi was silent. For a moment Kisame hoped that the boy hadn't heard him.

'It –'the raven began, and swallowed heavily. 'It hurt so much,' he whispered brokenly.

His bony shoulders were shaking just slightly. The hand in which he was holding the glass was trembling dangerously, and Kisame was quick to take the glass and put it on the nightstand. He moved a bit closer towards his young partner.

'You can't imagine… it hurt so much,' he repeated. His bangs were partly covering his face, but Kisame could see sore tears dripping down the boy's chin. Itachi was shaking softly.

Kisame put an arm on his right shoulder to steady him.

'I- 'he breathed. There wasn't much he could say. How do you comfort someone who had been through something so horrific? How do you ease a victim's pain? Itachi had been victimized, and in the worst possible way. He was strong, but he'd been forced in submission. The shark man gritted his teeth, and the desire to kill Chisei all over again colored the edges of his consciousness bright crimson. The man, dead as he was, would always haunt Itachi's mind, would play a part in the boy's nightmares.

'I was there,' he said quietly. 'And … it hurt me so much when I saw the things he did to you. I… I wish I had done something…anything. I wish it had been me.'

Itachi let out a quiet sob. He edged closer to Kisame slowly, careful not to move unnecessary and risk complaints from his broken bones. He rested his forehead against Kisame's broad chest, and gripped the other man's shirt with his good hand.

The blue man stiffened at the sudden touch. Itachi's skin was so hot. It was practically burning him. Finally, he laid a tentative hand on the small of the boy's back, and rested his chin on the op of his head.

Itachi sucked in a shaky breath. This felt…good. Comforting. He relaxed a little in Kisame's hands.

Kisame had tangled his fingers in Itachi's soft hair. It had grown longer, past the middle of his back. He combed slowly through it with his fingers. The weasel had relaxed in his arms, and his breathing had returned to its usual patters of quick inhales and exhales punctured by almost inaudible wheezes.

Some minutes passed.

Itachi had inhaled approximately four thousand times. Kisame laid him gently on the pillows. Sleep's cold hands had caressed the prodigy's tortured mind yet again.

The raven was breathtakingly beautiful, his paper-pale face framed by midnight locks.

Kisame leaned down, almost hypnotized by the sight, and pressed his chapped lips against full, youthful ones in the lightest of kisses.

'Itachi,' he sighed, 'you gorgeous boy.'

**SHAMELESS SELF-PIMPAGE: Read my new Kisa/Ita one-shot **_Just Stop_**, and review please. If you lkike this story, you'll like it too.**


	10. Chapter 9: Breathe

**Title: **Chapter 9: Breathe

**Rating: **M

**Disclaimer: **disclaimed

**Author Note: The last chapter is here. I hope you enjoy it. Please leave a review on the way out.**

**Author: **_Lady Avaritia_

The air was cold and clean. The sun was caressing the earth lovingly. Autumn was brushing her golden hair. Fallen leaves twirled in the air. Paper thin clouds littered the sky like strewn newspaper balls.

Itachi and Kisame were walking slowly through the training grounds. In the last hours of daylight, they were the only ones out of the hideout. Itachi was squinting his eyes, even though the sun rays were weak. His steps were small, careful. The air passed through his dry lips in quick inaudible gasps.

After being confided to a bed, he was finding the use of his limbs yet again. His knees would only hurt him if bad weather was coming; his ankle was just fine too, as long as he didn't step on the leg too heavily, or use it to deliver strong kicks; his left arm, however was a sad case. Sasori had offered to replace it with a wooden limb and Itachi had politely refused.

He could still form seals with it, but his shoulder felt…off. It almost felt like the arm didn't belong to him. It just hung limply by his side most of the time. Occasionally his fingers would twitch involuntarily, but the slight movement wasn't obvious to anyone who wasn't looking for it.

All in all, the Uchiha was just as intimidating, as he'd ever been.

Kisame knew otherwise. Itachi's body had been delicate before but now he was so gaunt, it hurt to see him. The shark man could count his partner's ribs through the scarred skin of his torso, and his hipbones were practically poking through his abdomen. His wrists were so thin they looked like they might snap, if too much pressure was put on them.

Itachi had never looked so fragile. His sickness wasn't helping him either. There were some nights when he couldn't sleep because he couldn't breathe because he couldn't stop coughing, and he could barely keep any substantial food down.

And most of the nights he couldn't sleep anyway, as nightmares tore through his mind and left it in bloody tatters. The raven was probably unaware of how much he tossed and turned and cried in his sleep.

It was painful for Kisame to watch.

Worst of all however, were the boy's eyes. They were so… dead, so unemotional. Sure, Itachi had been apathetic before, but now… now it was just frightening to look in the endless charcoal depth and see only a maddening vast emptiness.

Kisame was tearing apart looking at his young partner. He knew that Sasori was there, observing him, silently enjoying the unfolding drama with a twisted smirk on his childish face. The puppet master probably believed that Kisame's torment was enough punishment for the loss of his own lover, Orochimaru.

_He will never love you back._

The cruel words echoed through the Kiri-nin's mind whenever he looked at Itachi.

He cast a look at his young partner now. The boy was leaning heavily on a tree, his breathing just slightly hitched. His eyes were closed.

'Let's sit for a while, shall we?' Kisame offered.

'Hn,' Itachi slid down the tree and sat heavily on the ground, his left arm resting limply on his flat stomach.

The withered leaves were locked in a last dance with autumn breeze before resting down on the hard ground.

The soft light illuminated Itachi's beautiful face. His eyelashes cast long shadows on his high sharp cheekbones; his thin lips were slightly parted. He looked completely calm, withdrawn.

_He will never love you back._

'You're lovely,' Kisame said on a whim.

Charcoal eyes shot open to stare at him surprised.

'I – I beg your pardon?' Itachi asked startled.

Shit. Capitalized Shit. Now he'd officially done it. But he just might as well get it over with, now that he'd started anyway.

'I… I – shit, Itachi. I am not a man that can talk like that…I – I suppose I'm trying to tell you that…I love you' he finally blurted out.

The raven looked at him for a hundred breathes then turned away, and closed his eyes. A deep sigh made its way through his throat.

_He will never love you back._

The sun was slowly bleeding out on the lazuli sky, staining the ragged tattered clouds.

Forever came and passed. Itachi exhaled approximately one thousand five hundred sixty seven times and a half.

Then he moved closer to Kisame and rested his head on the shark man's shoulder.

His eyes opened, slowly. His face was as impassive as ever. He looked at his partner, and something seemed to come live in the dark depths of his eyes.

Another sigh escaped his dry lips.

'How do I say the same without lying?' the boy asked quietly and shook his head.

His lids fell heavily over his eyes again. Tenderly Kisame put an arm on his shoulder.

'I'll tell you the only truth I know,' the boy continued. When he opened his eyes to look at Kisame again, there was something so heavy in them, so old, so…worn out.

'I am too tired to love.'

Kisame leaned down to pres his lips against Itachi's.

'I know,' he said softly and kissed him again. This time his partner parted his lips just barely.

**This, my dear friends, is the end of Nails and Teeth. Thank you all so much for all the support, reviews, favorites, alerts, and PMs. **

**I know this wasn't exactly the happy ending some of you expected, but I believe leaving it open like that, was the better choice. Itachi didn't say 'I love you' or 'I don't love you.' he just said he was tired. You can decipher what that means on your own. **

**Originally, I planned for the story to end in the previous chapter, but then I decided that a proper ending was due. So here you go, an open ending for you to play with. Enjoy**


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